


Animal I Have Become

by Lord_Negaduck



Series: Leave Out All the Rest [1]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Age Difference, And Drake Needs to Give Him One, And Jim Needs To Give Him One, And a Loveable One At That, Bisexual Jim Starling, Bisexuality, Drake Needs a Hug, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Fanfiction, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Genderfluid Drake Mallard, Good Parent Drake Mallard, Gosalyn Mallard is a Little Shit, Humor, Hurt Drake Mallard, Hurt Jim, I Don't Know Shit About Law So Imma Roll With It, I Have Way Too Many Tags- Help!, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Jim Starling needs a hug, M/M, Tags Are Fun, Tags Are Way Too Fun, Under House Arrest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:28:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24216673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Negaduck/pseuds/Lord_Negaduck
Summary: Drake sighed sadly and resumed dabbing his face with the cotton balls, the fluffy white fuzz instantly warping into a bright crimson upon contact. There was no use in trying to figure out why Jim hated him. Not right now, at least. Right now Drake and Launchpad had a job to do- and that was to keep their new houseguest out of trouble.If only it were so easy.~×~NOTE:I upped the rating on this just in case, as there is going to be some mature content (just look at the tags if you don't believe me).NOTE #2:Previously titled "Still Falling For You." Personally, I think the new title is much more fitting for the main theme of this story.
Relationships: Drake Mallard & Gosalyn Mallard, Drake Mallard & Jim Starling, Drake Mallard/Jim Starling, Gosalyn Mallard & Jim Starling, Gosalyn Mallard & Launchpad McQuack, Launchpad McQuack & Drake Mallard, Launchpad McQuack & Jim Starling
Series: Leave Out All the Rest [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748116
Comments: 12
Kudos: 21





	1. Prologue

_"So what if you can see the darkest side of me?  
No one would ever change this animal I have become  
And help me believe it's not the real me_ _..."_

~ **Animal I Have Become** by Three Days Grace

* * *

Jim was completely and utterly silent. The middle-aged duck sat in the wooden chair in the corner of the kitchen, seemingly oblivious to all the world. Drake had come by several times, offering him a snack, but Jim had kept quiet. Launchpad, who had come over to help out with Jim, also tried to convince the former-star-now-houseguest/prisoner to at least _drink_ something. 

But Jim wouldn't even turn his head.

Drake eventually became desperate and tried to force feed him. It ended fairly quick: with Jim flailing around, barely restrained by Launchpad's arms, screeching violent expletives at the top of his lungs- while Drake quietly went into the bathroom to deal with the bloodied cuts and shards of glass in his face. 

Drake stood for a while in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection, heart aching as he tried to retrace his steps. Tried to figure out what had gone wrong, why Jim hated him so much. It couldn't have just been because Drake had taken the mantle of Darkwing Duck, could it? Was there more to it? Or was Drake scavenging for an answer that wasn't there? People did flip out over the simplest of things. Maybe Jim really did hate him simply because Drake got to step into the cape, and _he_ didn't. And Drake was searching for another reason for the older mallard's hatred because he didn't _want_ to believe that was the only reason. 

Drake sighed sadly and resumed dabbing his face with the cotton balls, the fluffy white fuzz instantly warping into a bright crimson upon contact. There was no use in trying to figure out why Jim hated him. Not right now, at least. Right now Drake and Launchpad had a job to do- and that was to keep their new houseguest out of trouble.

If only it were so easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ridiculously short first chapter? Yep. If it can even be called a chapter- anyways, constructive criticism is definitely welcome! Flames, on the other hand, aren't.


	2. Gosalyn Waddlemyer

Drake sat on the couch, flipping the pages of his book, mindlessly skimming them- all the while glancing up at Jim now and then to make sure the elder wasn't doing anything he shouldn't. Jim kept to himself, sitting in the chair across from Drake, tapping away at the keyboard of his phone. Drake had made sure to put on some pretty restrictive parental locks on that phone before giving it to the older mallard. Not that Jim seemed to care. 

"Would you cut it out already?" Jim growled, not looking away from his phone for even a second.

"Cut what out?" Drake asked, closing up his book for the moment and looking up at Jim.

"You keep staring. It's annoying. Stop it."

Before Drake could reply, a light knocking resounded from the front door. "I'll get it!" The young mallard called to no one in particular, jumping onto his feet in a flash and rushing to the front door. Upon opening it, he grinned at the sight that greeted him. "Professor Waddlemyer!!"

"Drake!" The elderly duck smiled back at the aforementioned mallard. "It's been too long!"

Drake chuckled in amusement at Waddlemyer's words. "It has! Come in, come in-"

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I can't, I am running late enough as it is," Waddlemyer told him. "I just stopped by to ask if you could watch my granddaughter Gosalyn for the weekend. Normally I would drop her off at her aunt's, but she's away on vacation at the moment."

"Oh yeah- of course I can watch her! Where is she?" Drake asked, peeking his head out the door and looking around.

"In the car. I'll go get her." The slightly overweight duck trudged back to the car and opened the backseat door. "Come on, Gosalyn. I'll go get your bags from the trunk. You go say hello to Drake."

"But _Grandpa-"_

"No buts." 

"Fiiiine." A small, ten year-old duckling with slightly curly red hair and a dark green hoodie scooted herself off the backseat and hopped out of the car. 

Meanwhile, Jim was still sitting in the living room chair, only half-listening to what was happening as he browsed his phone. The middle-aged duck glanced up from his phone a couple of times too, but that was it. _This house is gonna be filled to the brim with idiots by the end of the month._ Jim sneered with disgust at the thought. As if living here wasn't unpleasant enough.

Gosalyn walked up to the front door, where Drake was still standing. "You got anything to eat around here?"

Drake, slightly taken aback by the question, told her, "Uhh, yeah, we do. We have plenty of stuff actually. Help yourself- the kitchen's just past the living room. Just don't eat too much, Launchpad's gonna be coming with dinner soon." The mallard stepped aside, allowing Gosalyn to walk in. She headed into the living room and spotted Jim now sprawled uncomfortably in his chair, still tapping away at his phone.

"Oh... my... GOSH!!! KEEN GEAR!!" Gosalyn scurried towards Jim and jumped onto him excitedly, her sneakers landing square on his chest. Jim gasped in pain as the air was forced out of his lungs from the impact. "Jim Starling!! The one and only Darkwing Duck!!! Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh- can I have your autograph- can I have your hat- can I keep you in a box under my bed?!!" 

Jim just stared at her, his beak slightly agape. What was he supposed to say to that??

Waddlemyer and Drake came into the room, the latter carrying Gosalyn's luggage. Gosalyn whipped her head towards them, put her arms around Jim's neck, and asked her grandfather with an "innocent" smile and puppy dog eyes, "Grandpa, can we keep him?"

"Wha- I'm not a pet!!"

Gosalyn didn't seem to hear Jim's retort. Waddlemyer only laughed and told her, "We can talk about it when I come back, you little cookie monster."

"Oh right!!" The duckling jumped off of Jim and raced towards her grandfather, wrapping her arms around his legs. "See you when you get back, Grandpa!" Waddlemyer gently patted her head, murmuring goodbye back to her. Drake smiled at the scene and then turned to look at Jim.

"What're _you_ looking at?!" the older mallard snarled at him.

Drake made a mental note to keep Gosalyn away from Jim for the time being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I made Gos a Darkwing Duck fan, cause I mean come on- we need at least ONE fan of Darkwing who's a kid! At least, that's my personal opinion, lol.


	3. Household Shenanigans ~ Courtesy of Gosalyn Waddlemyer

Keeping Gosalyn away from Jim Starling was proving to be harder than Drake thought. If he turned his back on her for even a second, the kid started yammering away to Jim about this Darkwing Duck episode, or that Darkwing Duck character, and so forth. Drake briefly entertained the idea of tying her up to a chair and just keeping her there until the weekend was over, but decided against it. He eventually managed to settle on a reasonable (read as _unreasonable_ ) agreement with Gosalyn. She would stay away from Jim if and only if Drake let her have a cookie every two hours of the day until bedtime.

Drake knew he really shouldn't have let her bully him into that, but it was either that or tie her to a chair and he had already ruled that one out.

So all was well for a few hours- Gosalyn sat down to watch TV, Drake sat down close by to keep an eye on her, and Jim had resolved to keep himself locked away in the world of the Internet until dinner. Drake checked his watch after a while and decided to get himself a snack. Launchpad was running late again, but the guy couldn't be faulted for that. It was probably Scrooge keeping him. So the young mallard stood, casting a quick glance toward Gosalyn, before heading into the kitchen.

After spooning out a few scoops of chocolate peanut butter ice cream, Drake came back into the living room only to find Gosalyn with a hockey stick in her hands, and a hockey puck in front of her. Jim was still oblivious to the outside world.

"GOSALYN, WHA-!!"

Before Drake could stop her though it was already too late. Gosalyn had swung the stick, the fat end of it crashing violently into the puck- sending the latter flying across the room... and smashing into Jim's phone.

"GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!" Gosalyn shouted proudly, jumping for joy.

"YYAAAHHHH!!!" Jim's phone went flying out of his hands and fell onto the floor. The middle-aged mallard looked about wildly and settled his glare on the culprit. "What- WHAT do you-!!" Jim shook his head and leaned down to pick up his phone. Somehow, it managed to survive both the impact of the puck and the floor, though not unscathed. Small cracks were gathered at one corner of the screen. Jim scowled, glaring back up at Gosalyn. "Stupid kid. What if that hit someone's head?! Namely _my_ head!!"

Gosalyn shrugged nonchalantly.

"Starling's right, Gosalyn! One of us or _you_ could've gotten seriously hurt!" Drake told her. "What we're you _thinking??"_

Gosalyn raised an eyebrow at Drake. "What're you gonna do- put me on house arrest?"

"That's not a bad idea," Drake told her, crossing his arms. Jim rolled his eyes and turned his phone back on. There was no way in heck he was going to waste the rest of the day listening to the two argue. Letting out an annoyed huff, the middle-aged mallard logged into his Instagram and sent the digital autograph one of his fans had been pestering him about all month.

After sending the image, Jim typed:

**_jim._.starling_:_ There. Ya happy now?**

The fan logged into their DMs and typed back:

**__mawcaber__lane:_ Yes thank you.**

**_jim._.starling_:_ Yeah yeah.**

_What kind of name is "_mawcaber__lane" anyway?_ Jim pondered. 

* * *

Launchpad finally came home, carrying three pizza boxes. Drake stared at the boxes in the taller duck's arms and commented, "That's... a _lot_ of pizza."

"Well, with how long you all were waiting for me," Launchpad explained, "I figured you'd be starving. I know I am! So I got extra pizza... is that okay?" He looked at the smaller mallard with concern.

"Yeah, yeah- that's actually really thoughtful of you Launchpad," Drake told him, smiling happily. "Thanks!"

Launchpad smiled back. "No problem!" Drake took the pizza boxes from LP- so the latter would be able take off his coat- and brought them into the dining room. 

"Dinner time!!" Drake called, going into the kitchen and opening up a cupboard to get plates. When he came back, no one was at the table- save for Launchpad, who was waiting patiently for his food. Drake set the plates down, now frowning. "GUESS LP AND I WILL EAT ALL THIS PIZZA BY OURSELVES THEN!!" he shouted, sitting down to open a box.

Luckily, this roused Gosalyn and Jim- the former raced downstairs from her bedroom hurriedly, almost tripping on the steps on the way down. The latter stomped in from the living room, his face set in an annoyed scowl. 

"Foood!!" Gosalyn practically screeched, already reaching for a slice- she hadn't even sat down yet. 

Drake slapped her hand gently and said, "Hey hey- at least sit down and wait for your plate!"

Jim had already sat down by this point, arms crossed as he waited. Gosalyn frowned at Drake's words. "Fiiiine..." She sat down at the table, pouting. Jim rolled his eyes at Gosalyn and turned his gaze to the amateur movie star/even more amateur vigilante. The older mallard's scowl deepened, and it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that Jim found Drake's face a bit... nice to look at.

Yeah, it definitely wasn't that. It most certainly _wasn't_ that _._ Wait, why did he think it was nice to look at? It wasn't nice to look at. It was a stupid face. Those faces weren't supposed to be nice to look at. 

_He needs a black eye. Or a split beak,_ Jim thought. _Stupid movie-star face._


End file.
